Railway-tie covering.



l. W. ALEXANDER & T. W. EPLING.

Patented'July 4, 1916.

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'TOHN' W. ALEXANDER AND TAYLOR W. EPLING, OF ROANOKE, VIRGINIA.

RAILWAY-'rin oovnnrne.

Speccaton of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 20, 1915. Serial No. 22,617.

To all fw hom it may concern Be it known that we, JOHN W. ALEX- ANDER and TAYLOR 1V. EPLING, citizens of the United States, residing at Roanoke, in the county of Roanoke, State of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in RailwayeTie Coverings; and we do hereby declare the following tofbe a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to newand useful improvements in covering or protecting devices and is particularly directed to the provision of a means for covering and protecting the ties and the super-structure of bridges or trestles of steam railways against sparks or coals falling thereon.

It is the object of the present invention to provide such a covering device which may readily be secured to the railway ties and which operates in such manner as to protect the ties and any super-structure disposed thereunder rom danger of catching fire by sparks or coals dropped from a train in passing thereover.'

lt is further the object to provide such a device which is of an exceedingly simple structure and which may be very readily applied and held in place by the securing means for the rails on the ties.

With the above and other objects and advantages in view, the invention resides more particularly in the combination and formation and arrangement of parts here# inai'ter described and specifically pointed out in the appended claim.

Reference is had to the accompanying drawing wherein similar characters of reference designate corresponding parts throughoutV the several views, and in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a railway trestle or a bridge structure showing the improved protecting or sheathing device as- .sociated therewith.V Fig. 2' is a top plan View of the structure shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken through a plurality of ties and showing the improved device associated therewith. Fig. a is a perspective view of one of the sheathing members. Fig. is a perspective view of a slightly modified form of sheathing member adapted for use in connection with ties used on metallic bridge structures or in other connections where there is no necessity of protecting the structure under the tie.

Referring now more particularly to the accompanying drawings, 5 designates a portion of the super-structure of a railway bridge or trestle, on which are positioned in the usual manner the ties 6 carrying the rails 7.

The improved means for sheathing or covering the ties and superstructure comprises a member secured on each of the ties, and formed of a plate 8 having its side portions 9 extending downwardly and embracing the tie for substantially a third oi its height. The edges of these portions 9 are bent outwardly and upwardly to provide channels 10 for holding the intermediate plate members 11, which have their side edges bent to form a substantially U shaped cross section as shown at 12 andhave engagement in those channels. As these plates 8 are disposed between' the ties and the rails, they may be readily secured by the usual rail securing spikes 13 which pass through openings 14 therein. Thus it is seen that an exceedingly simple struc'- ture has been provided which will efficiently protect the ties and the super-structures of bridges or the like on which they are disposed, against sparks or coals falling thereon from an engine in passing. If this structure described is secured in place at the same time that they rails are secured on the ties, it is seen that very littlefextra trouble is necessary in attaching this sheathing structure.

When it is desired to protect ties which have no infiammable supporting means connected therewith, the intermediate plate members 11 are dispensed with and as tions bent to engage in said channel mem- '10 bers.

In testimony whereof, we afX our signatures, in the presence of two witnesses.

JOHN W. ALEXANDER Y, K Y TAYLOR W. EPLING.

Witnesses:

C. F. COOKE, ,KATIE HIGHT.

shown in Fig. 5, plate members 8f having straightY downwardly directed sides 9 are used.

What is claimed is:

A covering device for ties or the like, comprising plates having their side portions bent downwardly and then directed upwardly to form a channel member, and intermediate plates having their edge' por= Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of` Patents, Washington, D. C. 

